Vladimir Putin (Image: Anadolu via Getty Images)
Vladimir Putin dispatched nuclear bombers to menace waters near northern Britain during a lengthy Christmas flight across the Norwegian Sea.
NATO deployed fighter aircraft to track the massive Russian “Bears”. Su-33 combat jets accompanied the strategic bombers on Christmas Day, reports the Mirror.
“Tu-95MS long-range bombers of the Russian Aerospace Forces made a scheduled flight in the airspace over the neutral waters of the Barents Sea and the Norwegian Sea,” Moscow’s defence ministry announced. “The flight duration was more than seven hours.
“At certain stages of the route, long-range bombers were escorted by fighter jets of foreign countries.” The Russian statement failed to specify which NATO air forces had intercepted the Tu-95MS aircraft.
The Norwegian Sea sits northeast of Scotland, positioned between Norway and Iceland. The aircraft – dubbed “Bears” – first took to the skies during the 1950s yet remain a cornerstone of Putin’s nuclear arsenal.
The exceptionally loud Tupolevs stand as the globe’s sole propeller-driven strategic bombers.
These same aircraft have been deployed to unleash catastrophic conventional missile attacks, resulting in widespread casualties and devastation across Ukraine. Just weeks ago, NATO interceptors were launched following one of the most brutal missile barrages inflicted on Ukraine by Putin’s military.
Ukraine has experienced power cuts and heating disruptions as temperatures plummeted to freezing, following the impact of 51 missiles and 653 strike drones on civilian infrastructure. A significant thermal power plant in Kryvyi Rih – the birthplace of Volodymr Zelensky – was directly hit.
Ukrainian air defences managed to intercept 585 drones, 29 cruise missiles and one ballistic missile. The magnitude of the blitzkrieg, which involved Tu-95MS and Tu-160MS strategic bomber aircraft, prompted NATO member Poland to deploy war planes.
A statement read: “Due to the activity of long-range Russian air forces carrying out strikes on Ukrainian territory, military aviation has begun operating in Polish airspace,” It added: “The Operational Command of the Polish Armed Forces has activated the necessary forces and resources at its disposal.”